


Spanish Guitar

by laissemoidanser



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Humor, Idiots in Love, M/M, Song Lyrics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2019-03-25 16:36:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13838763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laissemoidanser/pseuds/laissemoidanser
Summary: Times are changing but old habits die hard. Jack Morrison recalls one special evening in Gibraltar that took place shortly after he joined Overwatch together with Gabriel





	Spanish Guitar

**Author's Note:**

> The idea of Gabriel perfoming love songs for Jack has been plaguing my mind for a while now...
> 
> Sorry if there're any mistakes in Spanish text!!

 

***

Jack Morrison fixes his gaze on the distant horizon, his eyes as azure and clear as the infinite sea of Gibraltar laid out before him. There’s something new in this gaze, a feeling once lost and now found again. He’s breathing freely, taking in chest-fulls of fresh, salty air and a gentle smile is tugging at his lips. So many years have passed, but Gibraltar still remains special to him, still urges his heart to start beating faster. The silver-haired veteran bows his head and utters,

“Lot of memories of this place. They weren't all bad...”

He thinks he can hear the familiar sounds of a Spanish guitar playing somewhere nearby, its harmonious and passionate tune. On one hand, he realizes that it can’t be possible – those things happened an eternity ago, it’s all history now. But on the other hand, he doesn’t really believe it was _that long_ ago. No, wasn’t it only yesterday, so very close, just around the corner of this very street...?

***

He was still young and handsome, and he was drinking his time away at some seaside cafe in Gibraltar, where they were stationed. Back then, together with Gabriel, they’d just joined Overwatch, and were only beginning to get a hang of the life of newly-minted super-soldiers. Jack still couldn’t quite get used to the crazy rhythm, the daily routine, the sudden tactical troop shifts from one corner of the world to another and to the regular injections, which were doing things with his body, things beyond any reasonable explanation.

His head was spinning, he could feel the consumed alcohol buzzing in his temples, and he wasn’t unhappy, no, on the contrary, he dwelled in a state of intoxicating euphoria – much like a patient in a medical clinic stuffed with morphine before a crucial operation. Young Jack wasn’t bothered by that a bit - after all, the Overwatch command did it to him, and that meant that it was alright, it was how things were meant to be happening. He couldn’t wait to become this ‘super soldier’, to save lives of the innocent, to crush omnics, to make people proud.

He was still somewhat baffled by his new fellow soldiers – it seemed that people of all shapes, varieties and nationalities had gathered in the café under one roof, speaking loudly either in broken English, or in broken Chinese - Jack had long stopped any attempts to tune in to their random conversations...

By contrast, Gabriel had managed to gain respect of them all in the shortest amount of time, just like he always did. Didn’t matter if they couldn’t understand a word he was saying. Jack chuckled; Gabriel had a natural charisma and magnetism - you had to hand it to him, he could work his talents alright. Later on, Jack would learn a lot of those talents from him.  Right now Reyes was sitting solemnly on a small bullet-dented stage with a look of deep concentration on his face, worrying the strings of his Spanish guitar, while the rest of the soldiers were loudly going over the songs they wanted to hear.

_The House of the Rising Sun!_

_Stairway to Heaven_

But Gabriel would only wave them off nonchalantly, a sly twinkle dancing in his eyes.

" _No-no-no,_ " he shook his head and scratched his beard musingly. His accent seemed particularly thick and out of control that evening. “Something special tonight.”

His strong hands grasped the guitar; just one squeeze applied with a bit more pressure and those hands could easily break the fragile instrument in two. But instead his movements were graceful and gentle. He tried a few chords to make sure that the guitar sounded to his satisfaction and began to play. His audience cheered in delight, showing their approval by whistling and clapping ecstatically. Then they went quiet. Jack felt gooseflesh running up his spine, as the very first chords of the song enchanted him completely, gripped his attention and his heart…or, perhaps, it was the one performing the song? _Something special_ indeed – Gabriel had never before been particularly open to singing love songs in Spanish, and until that evening, had showed nothing but put-on aversion to the subject.

_Si tienes un hondo penar, piensa en mí_

_Si tienes ganas de llorar, piensa en mí_

 

His fingers were plucking the guitar strings with the swiftness and skill of a professional, and Jack once again marveled at the hidden talents of this usually stern and tough man, marveled at the real depth and sensitivity of his nature concealed so deep within - only he was allowed to catch a glimpse of it sometimes. Jack took another gulp from his glass. The pleasant buzzing in his temples intensified. He didn’t take his eyes off Gabriel, while struggling to keep a solemn and unconstrained expression on his face. _Really? Was he really playing what he was playing?_

 

_Ya ves que venero tu imagen divina,_

_Tu párvula boca que siendo tan niña_

_Me enseño a pecar._

Color rushed to Jack's cheeks, he choked on his beer and squirmed in his seat, looking around nervously and hoping that not all of them knew Spanish well enough to put two and two together and figure out whose lips the impudent performer was actually praising.

 

_Piensa en mí cuando sufras, cuando llores_

_También piensa en mí…_

And it was at this very moment that Gabriel's dark eyes looked up from the musical instrument and bored right into him, right into his heart. He went on playing and singing while keeping his gaze trained on Jack, a gaze full of emotion, of a feeling suspiciously akin to passion.

 

_…cuando quieras_

_Quitarme la vida, no lo quiero para nada,_

_Para nada me sirve sín tí_

Jack was vaguely aware that he was blushing fiercely to the roots of his hair; even his shoulders seemed to be flushing together with his face or maybe even his whole body down below, because all of a sudden he felt very, very hot. He pulled at the collar of his uniform and glanced in the direction of the bar where Ana and Reinhardt were sitting. They were there alone, since the bar was equipped with only four bar stools, of which Reinhardt occupied three. Fragile Ana caught Jack's bewildered look, smiled and winked at him knowingly before picking up her huge pint of beer and drinking it up in his honor. Jack anxiously rubbed at his burning forehead and chanced another timid glance at the stage. Gabriel kept playing, and kept _scorching_ him with _that_ look, now accompanied with a matching grin. As if the bastard knew what he was doing to Jack, and was enjoying the effect of his tricks in most insolent manner. His voice sounded somewhat rough, deep, off key now and then, but this only seemed to be adding up spice.

As soon as he was done singing, they roared with applause and cheers,

_More! More!_

_Why guys, he’s in loooooooove!_

_Who is this lucky woman, Gabe?! Tell us!_

“She is….You probably know her," Gabriel declared.

That was just too much. Jack miscalculated his ever-growing strength, bolted up from his seat with such haste he nearly turned the table over. His glass bounced up and fell back down with a miserable clink, landing on its side and proceeding to roll along the snow-white tablecloth while spilling its contents all over it. He attempted to catch it and fix the dislocated tabletop, but gave up almost immediately, darting out of the stuffy café faster than a bullet. Fortunately enough, he never lacked in sprinting abilities.

Cool evening air, filled with flower fragrance and distant sounds of the sea rocking against the shore quickly cleared his head and brought him back to his senses. Everything that had happened in the cafe seemed to him nothing but a joke, and his reaction to it was outright foolish. He chuckled and shook his head, switching his pace to calm and unhurried one. He headed along the paved avenue to the bridge thrown across a smaller back street. Jack leaned against the ornate balustrade of the bridge, his attention caught by an elderly woman working in her garden below. She was humming a quaint Spanish song, while skillfully snipping huge rose buds off the stems and arranging them in a flower cart.

“Got tired of my singing already?”

Jack nearly jumped out of his skin. Even though he’d known Reyes for a while now and, on occasion, in quite intimate ways, he never learned to get used to this scoundrel sneaking up on him. Sometimes he just seemed to pop up right out of thin air.

“I ain’t that crazy about loud crowds, is all,” Jack snapped, keeping his eyes cast down to avoid looking at Reyes.

“‘Ain’t that crazy’ about my songs either,” Gabriel sighed; there was a poorly concealed hurt in his voice.

“They all loved your singing to bits, Gabe, and you know it...”

“I was busting my ass _for you_ , Jack.”

Gabriel leaned against the balustrade to Jack's left. For the second time that evening Jack felt his cheeks flush hotly, despite the coolness of the air.

“What is it between us, uh, Gabriel?” he asked quietly.

“What do you mean?” Reyes shrugged his shoulders.

“You sing me these songs; tell shit about me right in front of everyone. You put me in humiliating situation back there…”

“You put yourself in a humiliating situation! No one asked you to jump out of there with your tail tucked between your legs. What, Jackie, do you want me to pretend that nothing’s going on between us? To pretend that we are just ‘brothers in arms’, best buddies and all such shit? And yet you ask me ‘what is it between us’! Between us, _cariño_ , is your fear to admit already - _es porque quieres follarme_.”

“Gaaabe!!” Jack covered his face with his hand.

“What?”

The woman under the bridge had dropped her work and was now angrily shaking her fist in their direction, " _¡Eres un idiota estúpido_ "

“Are you saying this is not true?”

“You mean her calling you an idiot?” Jack asked evasively.

“No,” Gabriel took a few coins out of his pocket and tossed them to their happenstance witness. She caught the money deftly, went quiet that very instant as she started counting it. “I mean you still wanting to fuck me, _mi sol_.”

“ _Aquí, aquí!”_ he said to the woman, pointing at himself. She picked the largest, freshest and most colorful rose from her cart and tossed it up, right into Gabriel's hands.

“You just have zero sense of delicacy, don’t you,” Jack pleaded.

“That’s not true. You know me, Jackie, I can be very romantic and delicate,” Gabriel replied, shifting closer to Jack. With a mischievous glint in his eyes he handed him the blossoming flower.

Jack shook his head reproachfully but accepted the rose nevertheless.

“You like it here, hm?” Reyes asked him.

“Maybe...,” Jack said. And he thought he wouldn’t actually mind to spend every evening here..., in Gabriel's company with no space left between them and the sounds of the sea filling the space around them.

It was him who reduced the last inches of distance between them and took Reyes's hand in his. They stayed just like that for a while, listening to the breathing of night life, enjoying intimacy, those rare moments of ‘the present’ in their crazy lives. Tomorrow they would be somewhere far away from here, at a flashpoint of fight. But for now the two of them had that moment all to themselves.  Jack wasn’t at all afraid to admit that maybe he loved Gabriel and maybe he loved him a little more than he should, a little more than he could afford. He didn’t have to ask Jack about it, didn’t have to remind him – Gabriel was always _first_ on his mind enough as it was, in his moments of sadness and in his moments of joy.

Gabriel was a wild, enigmatic, uncontrollable force and Jack was vaguely aware that he could no longer do without him, that he would follow him anywhere, plunge head first into any reckless adventure. Those were the days before the beginning of something _more_ , something _great_ and _inevitable_ in their lives. And it was that uncertainty that Jack feared while Gabriel laughed it in the face and couldn’t wait to grapple it. Jack sensed that somewhere further up the road no good would come of their bond, that it was way too toxic, too explosive and unpredictable. They could love as easily as they could hate. To admit that this bond was something more than just ‘friends with benefits’...

…Gabriel's hand was so warm, Jack was tracing delicate patterns into his palm with his thumb, never noticing when exactly all his thoughts dissolved completely into the quiet of the night, evaporated, replaced by a sweet tingling in his chest. He practically wasn’t aware that he kept bringing the heavy rose up to his nose, inhaling its fragrance over and over again - and, oh, it was the most perfect fragrance in the world. Perhaps, only because it was now accompanied by Gabriel's kisses - discreet, wet and feathery - along his cheek and the line of his jaw, under his ear, on his neck... Those kisses were sweet, making him hot and horny. Inevitably, they kept returning to his lips, which Jack kept parting willingly, letting Gabriel further in, deeper into his inner world full of demons.

***

The veteran shudders at the memory. That evening is so far away, so distant now, but each time he thinks of it he seems to be reliving it anew. Even now his cheeks are burning hotly under his visor, and he pulls it off impatiently, exposing his face to the fresh sea breeze.

There’s no old town left now, no bridge across the street and no woman with beautiful roses – only the wreckage of the past. But one thing remains the same - Gabriel's hand in his own. He squeezes it tightly and looks at his friend...nemesis... lover...? He finds it somewhat amusing that even after so many years, he still doesn’t know for sure what to call him. A gust of wind sweeps the hood off Reaper's head, baring his disfigured face, his long, strangely flowing hair. Looking at this creature it’s hard to believe that once he used to be a handsome man.

“Why are we here, Jack?” he asks.

_To remind you what a monster you have turned into_ , Jack thinks.

But is _he_ any better?

“To remind you, and myself, that nothing seems to change between us,” he says instead. Gabriel hangs his head low, his shoulders drooping a little. “You fall, I fall too. You die, I die. You kill, I kill. You betray... I betray too.”

“You betrayed me...oh hell yeah. Betrayed me alright, you...”

“Take my life if you want. It’s yours. Have at it. Heard you’ve been eating souls for a snack lately, Reaper?”

Jack takes a step closer to Gabriel, never letting go off his hand. Those dark eyes sweep across his face. The deadly claws touch his cheek, but only to ghost over the scarred skin in most tender caress.

“You know I’ll never do it, _mi sol_.”

“Why?”

Reaper shrugs, painfully squeezing Jack's hand and pulling him closer. He leans in and whispers in his ear,

“I suffer, and you suffer with me, Jackie.”

Jack frowns.

“Is this all we’ve got left now? Suffering?”

“ _Tonto,_ we also have _this-_ ”

He shifts closer and steals a kiss from Jack’s lips, ravishing his mouth. Jack forgets how to breathe. The stunned expression seems to still linger on his face when Gabriel pulls away, because the man chuckles at him - almost good-naturedly and without a slightest hint of mockery left in his voice.

“Ah...so… you still have that ‘romantic guy’ streak in you, huh?”

“Sure do. Although I probably can’t play the guitar like I used to...”

“Well, your kissing abilities haven’t changed much," Jack assures him, sneaking his hands under Gabriel's coat.

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. Just as shitty.”

“ _Pendejo_ ,” Reyes whispers, nuzzling Jack’s cheek.

“Back at you, idiot,” Jack hesitates only for a moment. “But I’ll accept these terms.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading


End file.
